Compressed-air locomotive



E. O. BAUM COMPRESSED AIR LOCOMOTIVE May 10, 1927. .6 8. 7

Filed Auz.,2, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May It), 1927.

UNHTED STATES PATENTTOFF'ICE.

ERNST OTTO BAUM, OF JUNGENTHAL, NEAR KIRCHEN, GERMANY.

COMPRESSED-AIR LOCOMOTIVE.

Application filed August 2, 1924, Serial No.729,712, and in Germany August 10, 1923.

My invention relates to improvel'nents in compressed air locomotives, and more particularly in locomotives designed for use in mines, and the object of the improvements is to provide a locomotive which can be readily taken apart into sections adapted to be carried from one driftway through narrow connecting shafts to another driftway for being reassembled and used therein. Another object of the improven'ients is to provide a locomotive which carries c om pressed air tanks of large capacitywithin a minimum of space, so that it is adapted to develop power for a long time and to be used in driftways of small cross-sect1onal area. lVith these objects in view my invention consists in constructing the frame of the locomotive in two sections detachably connected with each other along a transverse plane, and one carrying the compressed air tanks and driving wheels, and the other the motor, the gearing intermediate the motor and driving wheels and the pipe interme diate the motor and tanks including joints adapted to he readily uncoupled or detached when taking the locomotive apart.

Another object of the improvements .is to provide a subsidiary car in connection with the locomotive for carrying further compressed air tanks, which subsidiarycar is simple in construction and which 1s supported with a part of its weight on the locomotive so as to increase the adhesion of the driving wheels.

For the purpose of explaining the invention two examples embodying the same have been shown in the accompanying drawings in which the same reference characters have been used in all the views to indicate corresponding parts. In said drawings,

Fig. 1, is a diagrammatical elevation showing the locomotive, i

Fig. 2, is an elevation partly in section, showing the locomotive on alarger scale,

Fig. 8, is atop plan view of the frame of the locomotive and the wheels,

Fi g. 4, is an elevation showing the sections of the locomotive taken apart,

Fig. 5, is an end view of the section of the locomotive carrying the compressed air tanks, 1

Fig. 6, is a sectional elevation showing the clutch connecting the motor and the gearing driving the wheels, and

Fig. 7, is a diagrammatical elevation showing a modification.

.ln the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 6 the frame of the locomotive is made in two sections 1 and 2, the. section 1 carrying the compressed air tanks 3 and a heater 1. and being supported on the driving axles 5 and wheels 6, and the section 2 carrying the con'ipressed air motor 7. The sections 1. and 2 have end walls 8 and 9 each provided at opposite sides with hooks 10, the hooks of the end walls corresponding to each. other and being adapted to'be fixed to each other by being engagedhy slots 12 of bars 11. For assembling the parts the end. plates are placed. against each other and the bars are put from the sides over the hooks .10.

For supplying compressed air to the motor 7 a tubular member 13 located on the frame section 1 is connected with the compressed air tanks 3, which member includes a valve and is scrcwsthreaded at its end for having a pipe 16 secured thereto by means of a nut 15 provided with a handwheel l t. The pipe 16 is connected with the motor 7 for supplying thereto air from the tanks 3 at reduced pressure. The exhaust pipe 1'7 of the motor ends in the end wall 9 in position for opening into a pipe 18 connected with the heater 4. i

The motor 7 is connected with the driving axles 5 by a clutch shown in detail in Fig. 6. One of the clutch members 19 is mounted on the section 2 of the frame and within a cut-out portion 20 of the end wall 9, the jaws 21 of the said member projecting rearwardly from the said end wall. The said. clutch member is mounted on a sleeve 19- secured to the motor shaft 22 and it is adapted to be axially shifted on said sleeve by means of a lever 24 engaging in a cir-v cumferential groove of the hub 23 of the said member and having rocking support on a bolt secured to the end wall 9. The upwardly directed arm of the lever 24tis engaged by leaf spring 26 secured to the end wall 9 and tending to shift the clutch member 20 rcarwardly and into the position shown in Fig. 6 in which the jaws 21 project beyond the end wall 9, the movement of the clutch member being arrested by a. flange. 19 of the sleeve 19 secured to the shaft 22 and having the clutch member 19 axially slidable thereon.

The other clutch member 27 is within a cut-out portion 28 of the end wall 8 of the section 1. and on a shatt 29 carrying; a bevel gear 30. The latter is in mesh with a bevel gear wheel 32 keyed to a transverse shaft 31 connected with a transverse shaft SG'by a chain and sprocket gearing 3. 3. 34, 35. A gear wheel 3? keyed to the shaft 36 is in mesh with gear wheels 38 keyed to the axles 5.

To permit the section 2 to be moved on the rails independently of the section 1, vertically movable wheels 39 are disposed at either side of the said section As shown the said wheels are mounted on arms 4:0 secured to a rock shaft. 4E1 disposed on the frame section 2 and carrying: a toothed sector 4L2 engaged by a worm 4-?) adapted to be rotated by means of a hand wheel i l.

If it is desired to use the locomotive in a drittway the parts are taken apart and each section is brought to the said drittwav separately, whereupon the parts are assembled by moving the section 2 with the wheels 39 in lowered position towards the section 1 so that the end walls 8 and 9 cover each other, bolts and holes (not shown) being provided for guiding the parts to the correct positions. This will bring correspond ing hooks 1O beside each other as shown in Fig. 2, the end of the exhaust pipe 1'7 is opposite to the pipe 18 connected with the heater, the nut 15 of the pipe 16 is in Front of the tubular member '13. and the clutch member l9 in front of the clutch men'iber 27. Now the bars 11 are placed with their slots 12 on the hooks Ht so that both sections 1 and 2 are rigidly connected with each other.

It by accident the position of the clutch members is such that the jaws Ql engage in the COITGSPODdlHQ sockets ot the member 27, the axle 29 and the wheels 6 are directly rotated when starting the motor. It. however, the said jaws and sockets are not in register, the clutch member 19 is slightly forced into the section 2 when moving; the section 2 to 'ards the section 1. It now the motor 7 is started the leaf spring so rocks the lever E l so that the aws and sockets getinto engagement with each other as soon as the member 19 has been turned by the motor so far that the jaws and notches are in alignment. Therefore the clutch is thrown in automatically in both cases, and it is not necessary for the engineer to pay attei'ition to the clutch when assembling the locomotive.

disposed The compressed air pipe 16 is connected to the tanks 3 by screwing; the nut 15 on the screw-threaded end (it the tubular member .5. Now the locomotive is ready for operation. Ordinarily the wheels tit) are lifted away from the rails by turnin the hand wheel 44, in order to increase the pressure on the driving wheels and the adhesion thereof on the rails.

For transporting the locomotive through a narrow shaft and to another dri'ttway the sections 1 and 2 are again taken apart after lowering the wheels 30, by unscrewing the nut 15 and removing the bars 11. Now both parts can be separately *arried through the narrow shaft and assembled within the other dri'ltway. The locon'iotive can be disconnected and reassembled within a short period of time, so that little time is astcd when carrying the same trom one drittway to another. The power o i the locomotive large because, by n'umnting the motor 7 on the section 2 on which the engineer has his place nearly the whole cross-sectional. area. of the drift ay can he used for acconnnw dating compressed air tanks. As appears from Fig. 5 one of the tanks 3 can be disposed on the truck of the section 1 and partly between the driving wheels.

To protect the motor and the engineer against ii'ijury by :ialline; rocks I provide a root 45 on the section l which can be folded on that section as is shown in Fig. 2 in dotted lines. The root extends 'lorwardly and above the section 2, and it is provided at its free end with clamps l-ti adapted for engagement with a stay 4-? mounted on the section 2 and adapted to be ifoldcd downwardly.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7 r. locomotive is shown which is similar in con struction to the one dcscrihml with reference to Figs. 1 to (i, which, however, is provided with a subsidiarv car or trailer 4-8 carnrin r; compressed air tanks 3 tor iin-reasinp; the power of the motor 7. The said car is provided at its rear with wheels 40. he center of gravity of the car and its load being in front of the said wheels. fit front end the car is provided with a re .-:.l bolt St) hearing on a soeketed bearing}; plate 51 provided at the rear end of the part l ot' the locomotive. 'lheretore the major part ol' the weight of the car 48 is transmitted to the locomotive, so that the adhesion of the wheels is materially increased. 'lhcrciorc the tractive power or the locomotive is increased by a part of the we' "ht ot the car l8 without materially reducing the adhesion oi the train. Further, the car 8 is compact in construction, special driving means being dispensed with.

ll hile in describing the invention referonce has been made to particular examples embodying the same I wish it to be underion stood that my invention is not limited to the constructions shown in the drawings, and that various changes may be made in the general arrangen'ient of the locomotive and the construction of its parts without departing from the invention. While in the specific embodiments illustrated the source of power carried by one of the sections of the locomotive is a store of compressed air, and the motor carried by the other section is a compressed air motor, I desire it to be understood that I do not wish to restrict myself to sources of power and motors of the compressed air type.

I claim:

1. A compressed air locomotive, con1prising a front frame section and a rear frame section both having vertical end walls adapted for close contact and detachably connected with each other, a compressed air tank mounted on one of said sections, a motor mounted on the other section, tubular means having a detachable joint and connecting said tank with said motor, driving wheels supporting the tank carrying section, and power transmitting means including a detachable joint and connecting said motor and driving wheels.

2. Acompressed air locomotive, comprising a front f 'ame section and a rear frame section detach ably connected with each other, a compressed air tank mounted on one of said sections, a motor mounted on the other section, tubular means having a detachable joint and connecting said tank with said motor, driving wheels supporting the tank carrying section, wheels on said motor carrying section mounted for being moved into and out of engagement with the rails, and power trai'ismitting means including a detachable joint and connecting said motor and driving wheels.

3. A compressed air locomotive, comprising a front frame section and a rear frame section detachably connected with each other, a compressed air tank mounted on one of said sections, a motor mounted on the other section, tubular means having a detachable joint and connecting said tank with said motor, driving wheels supporting the tank carrying section, power transmitting means including a detachable joint and connecting said motor and driving wheels, and a folding roof hinged to the tank carrying section and disposed above the motor carrying section,

4:. A COl'l'lPl'QSSGCl air locomotive, comprising a front frame section and a rear frame 5 ction detachably connected with each other, a compressed air tank mounted on one of said sections, a motor mounted on the other section, tubular means having a detachable joint and connecting said tank with said motor, driving wheels supporting the tank carrying section, power transmitting means including a detachable joint and connecting said motor and driving wheels, a folding roof hinged to the tank carrying section and disposed above the motor carrying section, and a stay hinged to the motor carrying section in position for supporting said roof.

' 5. A compressed air loconiotive, comprising a front frame section and a rear frame section detach-ably connected with each other, a compressed air tank mounted on one of said sections, a motor mounted on the other section, tubular means having a detachable joint and connecting said tankwith said motor, driving wheels supporting the tank carrying section, power transmitting means including a detachable joint and connecting said motor and driving wheels, and a subsidiary wheeled car in part supported on said tank carrying section.

6. A compressed air locomotive comprising a section having driving wheels, a compressed air tank on said section, another section, amotor carried by said second section, connections by which said motor receives air from said tank and by which it operates said driving wheels, means for connecting said sections detachably, and wheels movable up and down on the motor-carrying section and normally raised to an inactive position, but adapted to be lowered so as to engage the ground to facilitate transportation of the motor-carrying section when detached.

'7. A locomotive comprising a section having driving wheels, a source of power on said section, another section, a motor carried by said second section, connections by which said motor receives power from said source of power and by which it operates said driving wheels, means for connecting said sections detachably, and an auxiliary support movable up and down on the motor-carrying section and normally raised to an in active position but adapted to be lowered so as to engage the ground to facilitate transportation of the motor-carrying section when detached.

8. A locomotive comprising a section and a motor thereon, another section and a source of power thereon. means for connecting said sections detachably, and an auxiliary sup port movable up and down on one of said sections and normally raised to an inactive position but adapted to be lowered so as to engage the ground to facilitate transportation of the section carrying such auxiliary support, when such section is detached.

9. .A wheeled structure comprising two sections and means for connecting them detachably. and an auxiliary support movable up and down on one of said sections and normally raised to an inactive position so that said section is supported exclusively by the other section, said support being adapted to be lowered to engage the ground to facilitate transportation of such section when detached from the other section.

10. A wheeled structure comprising two (letuchahly connected unit-iorniin sections arranged in tandem, and driving mechanism for said wheeled structure, comprising C0111- pleinentary portions carried by the respective sections, one of the hitter having a running gear permanently in operative position,

normal. operative position.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

Eli-N ST OTTO IPAUM. 

